


The Blood Son

by Comicfan



Series: Fathers and Son [2]
Category: Red Hood and the Outlaws
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25699885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comicfan/pseuds/Comicfan
Summary: Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family...but what if you're not sure where you fall?
Relationships: Damian Wayne & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Series: Fathers and Son [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878103
Comments: 18
Kudos: 123





	The Blood Son

**Author's Note:**

> I might do more with Cassandra later but right now I'm a little unsure where she currently is in the family.

"Jason."

It took a great amount of effort on Jason's part not to roll his eyes. The response would have been a deserved one but Jason wanted to prove a point. He wasn't the same lost little boy that needed Bruce's guidance to steer him onto a righteous path. He wasn't searching for his approval either, whatever was decided he was determined not to let Batman cloud his judgement.

"Bruce." 

He kept walking knowing the dark knight was still following and while he could outrun him the conversation would only pop up again. Maybe he only had himself to blame for not being more careful about speaking with his dad in public. Bruce had figured out Willis Todd wasn't dead and had been attempting to discuss the matter with Jason several times. 

_More like interrogate_ , Jason thought grimly.

He was tempted to just leave but for some reason he had agreed to show because he was under the impression they wouldn't be alone.

"Are you certain it's him?"

A heavy sigh slipped out before he could contain it, of course Bruce thought Jason was the same emotional kid that would fall for any cheap trick. Nevermind all of his training, the fact he had already dismissed one imposter (not that he'd tell Bruce), no, in Batmans' mind he had never stopped being the failed Robin. The screw up that wouldn't blindly trust anyone just to be accepted.

"I know what I'm doing."

It wasn't the straightforward affirmative answer Bruce wanted but Jason didn't want to confirm anything. His reasoning? Simply because it wasn't any of the dark knights' damn business. Yes, Jason knew it was his dad from hours of conversations and more importantly (to Bruce) he had conducted a DNA test. But he also knew Bruce well enough to know when he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Denying it was his dad would make the man paranoid about why someone was trying to trick him. If he admitted the truth then his old man--his dad--Willis--would be hounded by Batman. As strained as things were with them that wasn't a fate he'd wish on anyone, well, except Joker.

Jason might not know how he felt about his dad but their problems were their own. For better or for worse they would decide what their relationship was. Not Batman dangling his dad out of a skyscraper and attempting to influence what Willis did.

All to what? Protect Jason? To control him? He didn't know anymore, he just wished he could be trusted to make his own decisions. It was already confusing enough for him to deal with without Bruce sticking his nose into it.

"Do you?" Batman was speaking to him, not Bruce. The detached cool analytical voice that always drove him crazy when he was Robin. "You don't think you're rushing into--"

"I've known about this longer than you have."

Of that he was certain, he hadn't just decided to randomly hang out with his formerly presumed dead father. It wasn't like Qurac, Jason had given a lot of thought to whether they would talk and even then he had stopped himself from asking too much. His dad had tried to explain himself, where he'd been after his prison time but Jason wasn't ready to hear it. He didn't know if he'd ever be ready, just speaking to the man was overwhelming. And yet...

...Jason wasn't sure if he could just part ways with him either. He had always yearned for a family and he understood his dad a bit better now that he read his letters. Did someone like him really have room to judge his dad for his mistakes? Things with Bruce and the rest could never be picture perfect, especially when he had to constantly fight to be acknowledged. Most of it was his fault, he could admit that, but no one else seemed to think the family did anything wrong. Sometimes Jason wondered why he kept trying to win a battle that he lost a long time ago.

_Why does **he** care?_

Neither of them spoke for a small eternity, when one of them finally broke the silence it was Bruce addressing Jason, not Batman.

"And you still decided to see him? You...you weren't exactly fond of him before."

It was a fair point, Jason rarely wanted to talk about his dad and never made it a secret that they weren't close. Even now he felt conflicted over what he felt, before and after reading the letters. 

"Weren't you always the one that supposedly supports second chances?"

" _Hypocrite_ " went unsaid but they both heard it all the same. The fact that Bruce would fight to the bitter end to save his most muderous rogues yet reject the idea of Willis wanting to make amends wasn't making it any easy to rein in Jason's anger. To say nothing of the constant suspicion he still had faced from the family.

"This isn't the same thing." When Jason made a dismissive noise Bruce's eyes narrowed. "It's not. He hasn't been in your life for years then suddenly--"

"Yeah, well neither were you." 

Batman's eyes expanded as that statement sunk in. Cheap shot? Maybe but it was true.

" **Jason**." It was a reprimand that did Alfred proud yet there was something mixed in his voice that Jason didn't recognize.

"He was in jail then presumed dead. I was actually dead then training. We both had our reasons for not being around." Knowing that Bruce would soon latch onto that particular topic Jason went on the offensive to cut him off. "Speaking of which did you know where he had been sent back then? The way I see it you either bought whatever B.S. cover story was told or you knew what really happened at Hierve El Agua. Which is it?"

The answer would reveal a lot about Bruce as a person. There were illegal experiments being conducted with stolen property and a whole prison had been wiped out. Did Bruce just believe whatever they said because he hadn't wanted to know the truth? Or had he known and refused to tell Jason?

Whatever the answer was it never came as the rest of the family swooped in. They were oblivious to the tension in the air and as far as Jason knew they had no idea that Willis was alive. The others drew closer to Batman and Red Hood slowly distanced himself from them. Only Batman seemed to notice Jason slipping further away.

If they weren't all there to give each other a briefing on new Intel he would have disappeared completely. Batwoman and Signal were the first to leave, followed by Nightwing, Tim and Spoiler. Cass lingered a little longer, her head tilting towards Batman then over to Red Hood. She said nothing but her body language was tense.

"You shouldn't be here." The tone was harsh, it left no doubt that Batman had just given an order to leave immediately.

At first Jason thought Bruce was talking to him and the sudden shift momentarily left him confused. He hadn't assumed the comment was directed at Cass simply because Bruce was facing his direction. There was a long pause before Damian stepped out from his hiding spot. He wasn't wearing his Robin suit, he hadn't been since Batman had stripped him of that role. They had all been benched at some time but to be forbidden to take the mantle? That had to hurt.

"I want to talk with you." The tightness in the boy's voice made it clear how upset he was. It wasn't the sort of thing Damian would want an audience for.

Jason made to leave only for Bruce to address him in a softer tone. "Don't go far, we'll finish this soon."

The change in his demeanor did not go unnoticed by Cassandra and Damian. The former watched them all, her line of sight shifting between the three of them every now and then. Damian bristled, his expression turned sour and his hand clenched into fists.

"No, we're done with this conversation." Jason informed him as he glared up at the sky. It was going to rain soon, it usually did right when Batman started getting overdramatic. As if Gotham it's self was in tune with it's sentinels' changes in demeanor. It was a cliché Jason wasn't in the mood for right then.

"We'll talk later." Bruce said refusing to let the subject be dropped completely.

"Do I need to make an appointment to speak with you now?" The youngest asked, his voice dripping with contempt and annoyance.

"You can use more than a few lessons in patience, Damian."

Batman had returned, he sounded cold, as if he was speaking with one of his rogues gallery. Jason winced in sympathy because he knew how it felt when Bruce treated you like that. Just hearing it brought back a lot of bad memories.

"This isn't an interrogation session, Bruce. Just talk to your kid." Exasperation slipped out even as common sense told him that he should just leave.

"I **am** talking with you, Jason."

Three figures collectively reacted to the ill phrasing of that sentence. Sure it was always nice to be considered part of the family but the way Bruce said it made it sound like Jason was his kid and Damian (who he still hadn't given his undivided attention) wasn't.

"And what about me, _Bruce_?" 

When he first arrived at the manor Damian would only address him as "father." After being bitterly disappointed by the man he actually was the title had been dropped and replaced with "Bruce." His respect had been lost and no one knew what to do to mend the tattered relationship.

"He doesn't mean that." Cassandra reassured. 

"Both of you are my sons, Damian. But lately you only seem to care about that when you want something."

This time Cass didn't attempt to translate what Bruce actually meant.

"Yes...because we all knows you **never** ask much of us." The boy shot back bitterly. "Once I thought being your son meant something. Blood matters, it connects us more than any of them."

He gave Jason and Cassandra each a nasty glare for still remaining behind.

"It should mean something to you after you lost your parents. Yet you barely give it a thought. I'm just another cog in the machine to you."

"Blood doesn't make family." Bruce countered.

Jason knew Bruce wasn't just speaking to Damian, he was making a direct statement to him about Willis. Sadly Damian seemed to take it as another dismissal, his scowl deepened.

"It certainly was never enough for you."

He had stayed behind longer than he should have, his presence was only agitating Damian. As usual Bruce was sending the wrong message because he wasn't focused on the whole picture. Batman excelled at that when he fought crime but he usually failed when it came to communicating with his kids.

"Listen to your son for once, Bruce." 

With that said Jason turned to leave, he ignored the protests and the following outraged yelling. If he was listening he would have heard the warning signs before Bruce screamed.

"DAMIAN DON'T--!"

He half turned in time to see shuriken flying towards him and knew there was no time to dodge. Later on he might have wondered if his armor would have protected him from a weapon the Al Ghuls had forged to fight Batman. In the present he only had time to blink before he was tackled. Cassandra hadn't been close enough to stop Damian and knew better than try to pluck the bladed weapon from the air at that speed. Honestly Jason was glad she had his back but it still made for an awkward moment when he tried to rise onto his elbows only to be pressed down. She stayed protectively against his back, using as much as her small form has she could to cover his larger frame.

It touched him to see at least one member actively looking out for him.

Craning his neck as much as he could Jason spotted Batman trying to restrain Damian. They were screaming, running to the next rooftop and in the midst of a partial battle. It reminded him of days he rather forget, of another kid who was hurt by the things Bruce did. Or in that case, didn't do. His dad--Willis--hadn't been a great father to him. They hadn't talked much when he was a kid, Jason had hated him for a long time. Things still weren't great between them but they finally had a few decent conversations. Why did Bruce care so much? 

Damian hated him but that wasn't anything new, he got where the kid was coming from. It wasn't like he could get mad about the shuriken being aimed for him. He had burned a lot of bridges when he came back and taken out his anger on far too many people. Jason didn't exactly have the high moral ground against any of them. This whole thing was--

"It's not your fault." Cass informed him as she slowly peeled off of him. "It's between them."

"I know." He did know that, it was just hard not to feel like everything was his fault. Especially when fights happened because he hadn't had the sense to leave sooner.

"He's worried about you."

"That I usurped his position with Bruce?" Typical League of Assassins mindframe to see others as your rivals but Damian still hadn't grown out of it. At least not with Tim and him. Last he heard things were even worse between Tim and Damian after Tim returned to the Robin mantle. What did Jason have that Damian could possibly want? As far as he was concerned his relationship with Bruce wasn't much better than Damian's.

Her head tilted to the side as she considered him, before shaking her head.

"Not Damian. Bruce."

"He's just being paranoid." Jason assured her.

"Why?"

"Because he's always paranoid." That was the truth just not the entire truth.

"He's scared that he's going to lose you. Why?" Cass likely wanted to know if he was doing something dangerous, if they were at the breaking point.

In response Jason shrugged because they always seemed to be caught in this loop. Sure, having Willis Todd around might have been the spark in this case but the powder kegs had already been in place. Sooner or later they always went off, it was only a matter of time. Bruce might place the blame on Willis, maybe even on Jason himself for being "gullible", but the cracks in their relationship had never been fixed.

Bruce always realized something was wrong too late and rarely knew what to do to fix the situation. It had been easier when Jason was little and just spending time with him had been enough to reassure him. Now the arguments were worse and were prone to escalate into physical violence. Jason was more than a little tired of it all.

Jason gave Cass a goodbye wave and headed back to his place for the night. His dad had called earlier and he had been hesitant about calling him back. In the distance he could still hear Bruce and Damian fighting. Blood might not make you family but neither did loyalty. No, loyalty could be blind, it could become more of an obligation. Maybe that would change, maybe not. But for the moment Jason Todd was no one's son.

**Author's Note:**

> I did an Injustice moment with Damian when he losses his temper and attacks his big brother but with a less tragic ending.
> 
> Jason is a little conflicted when it comes to both of his dads but he doesn't want to rush into mending things with his dad just because he's mad at Bruce.


End file.
